The Licenses Committee approved the license for Assad after she agreed to not sell liquor, but only beer and wine.

Political Schtick: Every pol needs a schtick when campaigning, especially long-shot candidates like Kevin Barrett, who is running for Congress in western Wisconsin as a Libertarian.

Barrett's been sending out predictions for the future including one that says Brett Favre will return to the Packers, throw 20 touchdowns and lead the green and gold to the Super Bowl.

"A Brett Favre comeback will be good for the war-ravaged Wisconsin economy," says Barrett.

Barrett made headlines for being run off the UW-Madison campus as a lecturer for suggesting that the U.S. government had a role in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He hosts a radio show for the Genesis Broadcasting Network. He holds a Ph.D. in African Languages and Literature with an Arabic / Islamic Studies focus and a Folklore minor. Other off-the-wall soothesaying from Barrett:

• The Milwaukee Brewers will make it to the World Series and possibly win it, further boosting Wisconsin's economy.
• Obama will win the presidential election by more than 10%.
• Man will someday colonize the moon, and life will be found somewhere else in the universe.
• Someday, nuclear waste will be shot into space.
• In 2020, Wisconsin farmers will lead the nation in producing hemp for fiber, food and fuel, and more than half the milk sold in Wisconsin will be raw milk, which scientists will have determined to be healthier.
• A new official investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks will begin in 2010.
• Based on comparisons with the Soviet and Roman Empires, the United States central government will collapse in the year 2125 (approximately), because of economic problems brought on by high taxes, budget deficits and militarism.

Looking for a Handout: This is what gives politicians a bad name. Milwaukee County Supervisor Marcia Coggs-Jones is calling for her and her colleagues to get an extra $300 a month for travel expenses in addition to their $50,679 annual pay. Coggs-Jones justifies the request by saying that board members' pay has been frozen for a few years and high gas costs are hurting supervisors ability to get around.

She also notes that Milwaukee aldermen make $73,222 a year in pay, which many think is too much. Aldermen also receive $337 a month for a transportation allowance.

The issue here is not that board members should have another $300 a month -- they shouldn't -- it's that the proposal comes from Coggs-Jones, not considered one of the more active county supervisors.

Coggs-Jones should take the bus to her Courthouse office, anyway, helping to promote mass transit and recruit more riders for the county's beleaguered transit system.